Saturday, April 04, 2009

Courtship: Yellow-shafted Flicker



My plans for visiting the lake this morning were thwarted by high wind so instead I chose to visit a small wetland near home. Numerous waterfowl species were present including Canada Geese, Wood Ducks, Mallards, and Ringed-necked Ducks but photography was quite difficult due to the brush along the waters edge and the shyness of the ducks. I did manage to capture my best Wood Duck drake photos to date and will share them in a later post. Also I sighted my first Osprey for the year.

The highlight of the morning was this encounter of a pair of Northern Yellow-shafted flickers engaged in their spring mating ritual.

I was busy photographing a single flicker, attempting to capture a good portrait while the branches it was perched in swayed in the high winds, when the second bird arrived. The scene became much more interesting as the two birds began interacting.

It is difficult for me to believe that a full year has passed since Misty Dawn invited me to participate in her new meme Camera Critters. Thanks Misty for a great meme and thank you for all of the dedication and work keeping it going.

Visit Camera Critters, if you haven’t already post a Critter of your own, and join in for the second year of CAMERA CRITTERS.


30 comments:

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

Great capture.
Blessings,Ruth

Montanagirl said...

Oh, this is a great shot. We have Northern Flickers, but I've never seen the Yellow-shafted variety. Very pretty and thanks for sharing.

Flo said...

what beautiful birds!!! Great shots of them too.

Mine is up over at my animal blog.

Norm said...

they are cute with nice color and very beautiful. Visit my flamingos here, also my colorful parrots here, thanks for the visit and happy one year anniversary to you.

Dirkjogt said...

Great capture, you're a lucky man!

imac said...

Arn't they just cute.

Meggie said...

Such a beautiful pair! Isn't spring invigorating?!

Catherine said...

~Happy Anniversary Camera Critters!
Beautiful Flicker capture Salty!!
Wishing you a beautiful week!!
Cat

Chris said...

Hi,
This is an amazing capture. This bird is wonderful and this picture very nice. You must have enjoy the courtship. wow, congrats for seeing that and thanks for sharing it.

Oskar said...

Those are very nice looking birds!

jenn said...

Great shot! I have seen tons of birds today...I posted one too...must be the nice weather.

Adrienne Zwart said...

This is a great capture!

Mom Knows Everything said...

Oh the yellow in their tails are so pretty!

i beati said...

how special these pics are and the education Thankls Sandy

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

This is the best flicker photo I've ever seen! Thanks for putting in the extra time.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Salty: Love this photo, I never saw the spreading of the tail before. That is really special.

I saw three Redtail Hawks in the same tree but they wouldn't give me an angle to shoot.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Salty, Thanks for visiting my blog. I am enjoying seeing all of your fabulous photography...

I did a post about our Northern Flickers. Check my blog: March 23, entitled "It's Not What I Thought It was"... I think you'll enjoy seeing it.

Thanks again.
Betsy

Anonymous said...

That's a beautiful fanning display of the yellow tail feathers Salty. I havn't seen them do this for a while. Nice Capture.

Bengbeng said...

i like this shot too. you live in a region which is rich with wildlife to capture a shot like this?

Kelly said...

What a fantastic capture!! I've never seen the flicker's tail display and to have both birds in the same photo is wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Ooooh, how pretty. The speckled breast and yellow tail feathers are quite striking! First one I've ever seen. Great shot!...debbie

Anonymous said...

Great shot, honestly, one I have never seen. A pair of Flickers. I caught much the same yesterday in the wind of a pair of Mourning Doves making over each other. And it was not much different from two teenagers about to "fall in love."

lv2scpbk said...

They're pretty birds.

Michele said...

Isn't that sweet?! That's always makes for much more exciting photography when another joins in... that's a beautiful picture indeed!

Dianne said...

they appear to be singing a duet!

Shelley said...

This photo and display is stunning!!

Anonymous said...

Was the female visible that they were showing off for?

Leedra said...

Nice capture of the pair of Flickers.

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Misty DawnS said...

Absolutely fantastic photo (as always)!!! I have Flicker photos, but the detail of these is outstanding.

Thank you for the nice things you said about Camera-Critters, and, believe me, the pleasure is all mine! I'm quite proud of our Camera-Critters group!